TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE

TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE METHOD

Total physical response (TPR) method attempts to teach English through physical activity by accompanying appropriate actions with speech. It was developed by James Asher,a professor of Psychology , California drawing its principles from Psychology , learning theories and humanist pedagogy. Language teaching methods enunciated by Harold and Dorothy Palmer in 1925, also supported it.

TPR Method is a different approach to foreign language instruction which has been named “ The Comprehension Approach”. It is called this because of the importance it gives to listening comprehension . The idea of focusing on listening comprehension drawing early foreign language instruction comes from observing how children acquire their mother tongue. A baby spends many months listening to the people around it long before it ever says a word.  The child has the time to try to make sense out of the sounds it hears. No one tells the baby that it must speak. The child chooses to speak when it is ready.

According to Asher second language learning has analogical factors with first language acquisition. He draws ideas relating to emotion from humanistic psychology also in support to TPR. In the early stages of language learning, learning will reduce tension and be quicker if it is acquired in a game – like way. The TPR approach has not developed to the grade of a major method, however it can play an important effective and supportive role in the early stages of language learning.

Objectives of TPR

      1. To teach oral proficiency at a beginning- level

2. To develop comprehension skill

3.  To teach basic speaking skill

4. To reduce stress in the classroom

5. First absorb language and then speak

 Teachers role in the TPR

1. He/ she  provides opportunities for learning
2. He/she has the responsibility of providing the best kind of exposure , to language so that the learner can internalize the basic rules of the target language.
3. sometimes in the classroom the teacher plays the role of a parent
4. Teacher should keep away from too much correction in the early stages and should not interrupt to correct errors 

Procedure

The teacher make a list of commands and plan the lesson for the classroom. For example, stand up, sit down etc. the learner follow the commands with the teacher . Teacher introduces new commands and writes them on the blackboard. Each time He/she acts it out. The students copy the sentences from the blackboard into the notebooks. Learners are not required to speak at the initial stage. Later, learners give commands and the rest of the class performs the actions.

Advantages of TPR

i.                    the TPR develops listening competence

ii.                  learner like it because it is not very demanding

iii.                it helps to reduce the stress of pupils

iv.                TPR is very memorable. It really helps students to remember phrase or words

v.                  TPR is good for kinesthetic learners who need to be active in the class

vi.                It can be used in small or large classes

vii.              It works well with mixed ability classes. The physical actions get across the meaning effectively so that all the students are able to understand and use the target language

viii.            It is very effective with teenagers and young learners

ix.                It doesn’t require a lot of preparations or materials.

Disadvantages of TPR

i.                    TPR is only suitable for beginners levels.

ii.                  Students who were not used to such things find it boaring . if the teacher is prepared to perform the action, the students feel happier about copying . the pleasure is reserved for the teacher.

iii.                A teacher cant teach everything with it and if used a lot it would become boring